Federal Election Commission October 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On November 19, 2007, the Federal Election Commission (``Commission'') published a procedural rule making permanent a program allowing respondents in enforcement proceedings under the Federal Election Campaign Act, to have a hearing before the Commission. The Commission is now amending its procedures to provide that the Commissioners may ask questions of the General Counsel and the Staff Director, and their staff, during probable cause hearings. This amendment will conform the procedures for enforcement hearing with the Commission's procedures for audit hearing published earlier this year.

The Federal Election Commission seeks comments on proposed changes to its rules regarding the definitions of ``voter registration activity'' and ``get-out-the-vote activity'' under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended. These proposed changes are in response to the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Shays v. FEC. The Commission has made no final decision on the issues presented in this rulemaking. Further information is provided in the supplementary information that follows.

New York has scheduled a Special General Election on November 3, 2009, to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat in the Twenty- Third Congressional District vacated by Representative John M. McHugh.